No regrets for Snowden in surprise SXSW appearance

Fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has taken part in a one hour question and answer session at a major US conference. The American, now living in Russia, told the South by Southwest conference that his leaks have benefitted the world - not only making them aware of US activities, but making the major internet companies take their user's security more seriously.

Transcript

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ELEANOR HALL: One American who's taken a contentious stand against US government secrecy is former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

He is now a fugitive in Russia and is wanted in the US on espionage charges.

But he appeared via video link at a conference in Texas today and insisted that none of the documents he stole from the National Security Agency have fallen into the hands of Washington's enemies.

North America correspondent Michael Vincent reports.

MICHAEL VINCENT: For a man in hiding, Edward Snowden is not keeping a low profile.

He's being sought for prosecution on charges of espionage. American politicians and security officials regularly call him a "traitor."

But for those in the Austin, Texas audience he's the "hero hacker"

(sound of audience applause)

MICHAEL VINCENT: To the cheers of support, Edward Snowden appeared on big screens with a copy of the US constitution behind him. He says he would do what he did all over again.

EDWARD SNOWDEN: Well, regardless of what happens to me, this is something we have a right to. I took an oath to support and defend the constitution and I saw that the constitution was violated on a massive scale.

(sound of audience applause)

EDWARD SNOWDEN: The interpretation of the fourth amendment had been changed... Thank you.

MICHAEL VINCENT: The organisers pointed out, to chuckles in the crowd, that Snowden's video conference was being hosted by a Google product and the signal was being sent via seven different proxy hosts, the unspoken assumption being in case someone tried to take the signal out.

Edward Snowden says he chose to speak to this particular conference for one reason: the people in the room were the folks who can "really fix things through technical standards", because he says consumers need encryption on their devices.

EDWARD SNOWDEN: That encryption does work. We need to think about our encryption not as this sort of arcane black art, but sort of a basic protection. It's the defence against the dark arts for the digital realm.

MICHAEL VINCENT: On the stage moderating were two members of the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union), which is supporting Edward Snowden's legal fight.

ACLU technologist and senior policy analyst Chris Soghoian says there's growing anger in the tech community about attempts by the NSA to subvert the cryptographic tools.

CHRISTOPHER SOGHOIAN: I think it's fair to say that there is a group within the cryptographic community now who have become radicalised as a result of these disclosures. And cryptographers actually can be radicals. They're not just mild-mannered people.

We should remember that regular consumers do not pick their own encryption algorithms. Regular consumers just use the services that are provided to them.

The people who pick the crypto, who pick the particular algorithms, who pick the key sizes: they are the security engineers at Google and Facebook and Microsoft and the cryptographers who are working with open-source projects. And those people are all really pissed.

And I think that's good. Those people should be mad. And those people can make a difference.

But he said with confidence that, despite sharing his leaks with several journalists, that no governments like China nor Russia have possession of the documents he had.

EDWARD SNOWDEN: If suddenly the Chinese government knew everything the NSA was doing, we would notice the changes. We would notice the chatter, we would see officials communicating.

And our assets would tell us: "Hey, suddenly they've got a warehouse. They've put, you know, a thousand of their most skilled researchers in there." That's never happened and it's never going to happen.

MICHAEL VINCENT: The former security contractor says his leaks have meant American internet companies take data security more seriously now.

He says "every society in the world" has benefitted because the majority of its internet traffic goes through those US companies.

Edward Snowden says Americans now know the premise the NSA was working under.

EDWARD SNOWDEN: The interpretation of the constitution had been changed in secret from "no unreasonable search and seizure" to "Hey, any seizure is fine. Just don't search it." And that's something the public ought to know about.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Edward Snowden has been accused of leaking information that could compromise America's military capabilities.

But he says all the reporting of his leaks has been coordinated with "the government," which has never said any single story has risked a human life.